Wire-feeding mechanism.



J. GQLEPPER & w.- W. MANVILLB. WIRE FEEDING MECHANISM. 1122140411011FILED mm.- s, 1911. I

Patented Jan. 16, 1912.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I Vi 085 W @311 1 J. G. LEPPER & W. W. MANVILLE.

WIRE FEEDING MEGHANISM. APPLICATION Plum rm 3, 1911.

Patented Jan 16, 1912.

f/ITTOEWEY J. G. LEPPER & W. W. MANVILLE/ WIRE PEEDIN G MECHANISM.

- APPLICATION FILED F213, 1911.

1 ,01 4,829. Patented Jan. 16, 1912.

5 SHEETSSHEET 5.

- 411V E/VTORS ATTORNEY unrrun srA JOHN G. LEPPER AND WILLIAM W.MANVILTIE, OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, AS.- SIGNOBS TO THE MANVILLEBROTHERS COMEANY, OF WATERBUB-Y, CONNECTICUT,

A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

WIRE-FEEDING mncnamsmr.

Application filed February 3, 1911. Serial No. 606,405.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that we, JOHN G. LEPPER and VVILLTAM VV., MANVILLE, citizensof the United States, residing at Waterbury, county of New Haven, Stateof Connecticut, have invented an Improvement in Wire-Feeding Mechanism,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in wirefeeding mechanism.

The invention has for its object the provision of improved means wherebythe wire may be intermittently fed and cut in predetermined lengths.

A further object is to provide means for varying the stroke of thefeeding mecha- 1118111. I

A further object is to provide means whereby the machine may be adaptedto operate on wires of different gage.

A further object is to provide means whereby, the feeding mechanism maybe made temporarily inoperative.

A further object is to provide feeding, holding, and cutting mechanismsarranged to act in time with each other, whereby the wire may besuccessively advanced the desired distance, held and finally severedinto the predetermined lengths. I

The invention will be hereinafter fully set forth and particularlypointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings :-Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating awire feeding .and cutting off mechanism embodying our invention. Fig. 2is a front view, parts be- 1 ing shown in section. Fig. 3 is an endview.

Fig.4 is a detail plan view of the wire feeding slide and its adjuncts.Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 in Fig. 1, illustrating the wireholding and cutting devices. Fig. 6 is an end view of the wire holdingand cutting devices, the bed of the machine being shown in section. Fig.7 is a section on the line 77 in Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a sec-. tion on theline 88 in Fig. 1. Figs. 9, 10, and 11, are detail views illustratingportions of the wire feeding device and the operating cam therefor, Fig.10 being a section on line 1010, Fig. 9.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates V 'tlrbed of the machinesupported upon suitable standards 11 and provided with a bear-Specification bf Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16,1912.

ing 12 foran operating shaft 13. Secured to said shaft 13 is a crankdisk 14 provided with aradial T-shaped slot 15 arranged to guide acorrespondingly shaped slidable block 16 which is engaged by anadjusting screw 17 rotatively mounted in the crank disk 14. Said screwextends diametrically across the disk and projects at one end into saidslot, extending longitudinally of the latter, the other endbeingprovided with a milled head, whereby the screw may be convenientlyrotated. Mounted in a bearing 18 carried by a bracket 19 bolted orotherwise secured to the bed 10, is a rock shaft 20 to which is secureda lever 21 provided with a slot 22 near its upper end. A block 23 ismounted in said slot 22 and may be adjusted therein by means of athumb-screw 24-. passing therethrough. The block 23 is connected withthe block 16 by means of the link 25, whereby rotation ofthe shaft 13will effect an oscillation of the lever 21, and a corresponding movementof the shaft 20. To the opposite end of shaft 20 is secured a lever26,'connected by means of a link 27 with the slide 28 which is mountedupon a dovetailed guide 29 and free to reciprocate thereon. The levers21 and 26 are connect-- ed by cross braces,- whereby the two levers areunited in a single unitary construction.

Pivotally mounted upon the slide 28 is a 'wlre-gripping dog 30- ofapproximate L- shape, one arm thereof being provided with a grippingmember 31 cotiperating with an abutment 32. The gripping member ispreferably in the form of a screw, whereby the same may be adjusted tosecurely grip wire of any gage. The abutment 32 is provided with ashoulder lying in the line of the wire feed and forming a support forthe wire when not engaged by the dog. The other arm of the dog 30 isprovided with an abutment screw 34: normally held in contact with anoperating cam 35 by means of a spring 36. The cam 35 is pivoted at 37 tothe slide 28 and is provided with the curved cam surface 38* terminatingin a beveled shoulder 39. The cam 35 is shown as of approximatelytriangular form and provided at one corner with a socket in which ismounted a short shaft 40 provided with a depending eccentric finger 41and a milled head 42. Said finger engages an opening formed in a block43 mounted to reciprocate in a guide channel 44 which in turn is mountedupon a slide 45. The shaft 40 1s normally prevented from rotation bymeans of a spring-pressed locking dog 46 engaging a suitable notch insaid shaft. The reciprocation of the slide ,28 is limited by means of athreaded bar 47 secured to said slide and provided with stops, asadjusting nuts 48 adapted to engage an abutment 49 supported by the bedof the machine in any suitable or preferred manner. The slide 45 ismounted in a suitable guide 50 carried by the bed of the machine, andprovided at its forward end with a roller 51 engaging the cam groove ofa cam 52 secured to a second shaft 53.

Mounted in a suitable bearing 60, preferably carried by the ide 50, is aivot stud 61 which supports t e lever 62. ne end of said lever isprovided with a roller 63 which engages a cam 64 secured to the shaft53. The other-end of said lever is provided with an adjustable screw 65adapted to engage the head of a spring supported gri ping member 66working in a vertical soclEet or guide 67 which intersects thetransverse guide bore 68 through which the wire passes. The arrangementis such that the member 66 is held down in engagement with the wirepassing through the bore 68 so as to prevent retrograde movement of thewire when the slide '28 is retracted.

The cutting mechanism comprises a cutting slide 70 mounted toreciprocate between dovetailed shoulders 71 formed in one face of aguide 72 adjustably secured to the bed of the frame and provided at itsone end with a cutter 73 cotiperating with a removable tubular member 74to form a shear; The member 74 is located in a suitable socket in oneend of guide 72 and provided with a bore 75 through which the wire ispassed, and members with bores of different diameters are substituted,one for. the other, to conform to the gage of the wire being operatedupon. The slide 70 is provided atits'rearward end with a roler 76engaging a cam 77 whereby said slide is moved forward to shear the wire.Said slide is normally retracted and held in engagement with said-cambymeans of a spring 78 one end of which engages the guide 72 and theother end a socket 79 extending laterally from said slide.

The bed 10 is provided with a guide slot 80 the edges of which areshouldered at 81 to receive a depending rib 82 of the guide 72.Extending through said guide and pro jecting into the slot 80 is alocking screw 83 provided with a head 84 adapted to bind against theunder edges of said slot, and a nut 85, whereby the guide 72 inay berigidly held against movement. Extending vertically through the guide 72is a shaft 86 provided at its upper end with an angular head 87 and atits lower end with a bevel gear 88 spondingly threaded socket 91 carriedby v the bed of the machine. An annular shoulder 92 is formed on theshaft and one able manner along the dotted line bearing the legend Wireline (Figs. 1 and 6), passing between the gripping member 31 and theabutment 32. Just before the slide 28 moves away from the guide 67. theslide 45 is retracted and by reason of its engagement with the cam 35,swings the latter so as to bring the beveled portion 39 opposite theabutment screw 34, thereby permitting the spring 36 to hold the dog 30in a pos1- tion to allow the member 31 and the abutment 32 to slidealong the wire without gripping the latter (see Fig. 4). The parts areso timed that as the movement of the slide 28 is reversed and it startson its feeding movement to the right (Fig. 1) the slide 45 is movedtoward slide 28, causing'the guide channel 44 to rock the cam 35 andbring the curved surface of the latter into engagement with the screw34, thereby moving the gripping dog 30 in opposition to the spring 36,causing the wire to be firmly gripped and held between the member 31 andthe abutment 32. As .the slide 28 advances in this direction the guidechannel 44 permits of a corresponding movement of the cam 35, therebycausing dog 30 to maintain a firm grip upon the wireand advancing thelatter through the guide bore 68 and tubular member 74. Just as soon asthe slide 28 reaches the limit of its feeding movement to the right(Fig.1) the slide 45 is again retracted allowing the spring 36 to movethe gripping dog 30.0ut of engage! ment with the. wire to permit of thereturn movement of the slide 28 to the left. At the same instant the cam64 wil1.rock the. lever 62 so as to bring the screw 65 into engagementwith the spring pressed member 66, de-

, pressing said member and causing it to impinge against the wire in thebore 68 so as to hold said wire against movement as the slide 28 movesto the left (Fig. 1). Immediately' after'the wire is gripped by themember 66 the slide 70-is operated by the cam 77 to shear off the lengthof the wire protruding beyond the tubular member 74.

It will be noted that the stroke 'ofthe slide 28 may be varied byadjusting the nuts 48 with relation to the abutment 49 and by adjustingthe position of the block 16 with relation to the center of the crankdisk 14, and

further by adjusting the block 23 in the slot 22. Blocks l6 and 23 areadjusted by the screws 17 and 24 respectively, as heretofore described.When the stroke of the slide 28 is varied there must be a correspondingvariation in the relative position of the shearing device. Thisadjustment is accomplished by loosening nut 85 on screw 83 and thenrotating shaft 86 by means of a wrench or other suitable device. Theeffect of such rotation is to cause a corresponding rotation of thescrew shaft 90, thereby moving the guide 72 toward or away from theguide 50-, as the case may be. After the desired adjustment is securedthe guide is again locked by tightening up nut 85. If for any reason itis desired to interrupt the feed of the wire without stopping themachine it is only necessary to rotate the shaft 40 by means of head 42so as to cause the eccentric finger 41 to move the cam 35, therebypermitting the screw 34 to pass off of the beveled shoulder 39. Thiswill allow the spring 36 to draw the dog 30 back in the positionillustrated in Fig. 4 so that it cannot engage the wire, and the cam maybe held in this position as long as desired.

We claim as our invention. 5--

1. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feed.- ing'slide, means for actuatingthe same, a lever pivoted to said slide and having one end arranged as awire'gripping member, a cam pivoted to said slide, means for holding theother member of said lever normally in engagement with said cam, andmeans independent of said slide and its operating means for oscillatingsaid cam, whereby said lever is rocked.

2. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, means for actuating thesame, a lever pivoted to said slide and'ha-ving one end arranged as awire pivoted to said slide, means for holding the other member of saidlever normally in engagement with said cam, and means independent ofsaid" slide and its operating means for oscillating said cam, wherebysaid lever is rocked, and means carried by said cam for varying thelength of the oscillations, whereby said cam is' rendered inoperative.

3. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, means for actuating thesame. a lever pivoted to said slide and having one end arranged todirectly grip a wire, a cam pivoted to said slide, means engaging theother member of said lever to hold the latter normally in engagementwith said cam, and means movable at an angle with relation to saidfeeding slide for periodically oscillating said cam.

4. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, means for actuating thesame, a lever pivoted to said slide and having one end arranged as awire gripping member, a cam gripping member, a campivoted to said slide,means for holding the other member of said lever normally in engagementwith'said cam, a second slide normally engaging said cam, and movable atan angle with relation to said feeding slide,

- and means for actuating the second slide.

5. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, means for actuating thesame, a lever pivoted to said slide and having one end arranged as awire gripping member, a cam pivoted to said slide, means for holding theother member of said lever normally in engagement with said cam, asecond slide provided with a guide way normally in engagement with saidcam, and means for periodically reciprocating the second slide.

6. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, means for actuating thesame, a lever pivoted to said slide and having one end arranged as awire gripping member, a cam pivoted to said slide, means for holding theother member of said lever'normally in engagement with said cam, asecond slide provided with a grooved guide way, means forreciprocatingthe second slide, and a depending pin carried by said camand working in said grooved guide way.

7. In a w re feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, means for actuating thesame, wire gripping means carried by said slide, a triangular cam foroperating said gripping means and pivoted at one corner to said slide,and means engaging another corner of said cam to actuate the same.

8. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, means for actuating thesame, wire gripping means carried by said slide, a triangular campivoted at one corner to said slide, a second slide in engagement withanother corner of said cam, and means for actuating the second slide.

9. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feed ing slide, means for actuatingthe same, wire gripping means carried by said slide, a triangular campivoted at one corner to said slide, a second slide provided with aguide way, means for connecting another corner of V said cam with saidguide Way, and means for actuating the second slide.

10. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, means for actuatingthe same, wire grlpping means carried by said slide, a cam also carriedby said slide and controlling said gripping means, a shaft mounted insaid cam and provided with an eccentric finger, a second slide providedwith a guide way to receive said finger, and means for periodicallyoperating the last mentioned slide.

11. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, means for actuatingthe same, a leverpivoted tosaid slide and having one end arranged as awire gripping member, a cam pivoted to saidslide, means for holding theother member of said lever normally in engagement with said cam, asecond slide, means carried by said camfor operatively engaging thesecond slide, means for adjusting said connection to vary the length ofoscillation of said cam, whereby the latter is rendered inoperative, andmeans for actuating the second slide.

12. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, means for. actuatingthe same, a lever pivoted to said slide and having one end arranged as awire gripping member, a cam pivoted to said slide, means for holding theother member of said lever normally in engagement with said cam, asecond slide provided with a grooved guide way, a pin carried by saidcam and engaging said guideway, means for adjusting the position of saidpin in said guideway to vary the throw of said cam, and means foractuating the second slide.

13. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding sl de, means for actuatingthe same, wire grlpplng means carried by said slide, a cam also carriedby said slide and controlling said wire gripping means, a second slideprovided with a grooved guide way extendingvparallel with the line ofmovement of said feeding slide, means for actuating the second slide,and a shaft mounted in said cam and provided with an eccentric fingerengaging said guide way.

v 14. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, means for actuatingthe same, wire gripplng means carried by said slide, a cam also carriedby said slide and controlling said w re grippin means, a second slideprovided with a guide way, a shaft mounted in'said cam and provided witha finger engaging said guide way, means for normally preventing rotationof said shaft, and means for periodically operating the second slide.

15. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, means for actuatingthe same, wire gripping means carried by said slide, a cam also carriedby said slide and controlling said wire gripping means, a second slidearranged to move at right angles to the feeding slide and provided witha guide way, a

shaft mounted in said cam. and provided with a finger engaging saidguide way,

means for normally preventing rotation of said cam, and means forperiodically operating the second slide.

. 16. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, means for actuatingthe same, a lever pivoted'to said slide and having one end arranged as awire gripping member, a cam pivoted to said slide, means for holding theother member of said lever normally in engagement with said cam, meansfor adjustably limiting the movement of a said slide, and meansindependent of the slide and its operating means for periodicallyoscillating said cam.

17. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, means for actuatingthe same, a

lever pivoted to said slide and having one 1 end arranged as a wiregripping member, a cam pivoted to said slide, means for holding theother member of said lever normally in engagement with said cam, meansfor adjustably limiting the movement of said slide, a second slide,means for actuating the same, and means for adjustably connecting thecam to said second slide.

18. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, wire gripping meanscarried thereby, a crank disk, a radially adjust-able block mounted insaid crank disk, .a link connected 'at one end with said block, a leverconnected with the other end of said link, and an operating lever forsaid slide operatively connected with the first mentioned lever.

19. In a Wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, wire gripping meanscarried thereby, a crank disk, an operating lever, a link adjustablyconnected at its ends to said disk and lever respectively, a. secondlever operatively connected with said operating lever, and connectionsbetween the second lever and said slide.

20. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, by, an operating leverpivotally mounted at one end and having a slot at the other end, asecond lever operatively connected with said operating lever, andconnections between the second lever and said slide, a crank disk, alink having one end connected with said crank disk, and an adjustablemember mounted in the slot ofsaid operating lever with which the, otherend of said link is connected.

21. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, wire gripping meanscarried thereby, a crank disk, an operating lever, a link connectingsaid crank disk and lever, a second lever operatively connected withsaid operating lever, connections between said second lever and theslide, and means for adjusting the ends of said link relative to thecenter of said disk and the pivot of said operating lever.

22. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, wire gripping meanscarried thereby, an operating lever pivotally mounted at one end andhaving a slot at the other end, means operated by said lever foractuating said slide, a crank disk, a threaded rod mounted in theslotted end of said lever, a block located in said slot and working onsaid rod, a link having one end connected with said block, and means foradjustably connecting the other end of said link with said crank disk.

23. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, wire gripping meanscarried thereby, an operating lever pivotally mounted at one end andhaving a slot atthe other by said crank disk, and a link connected atits ends to said blocks. a

24. Ina wire feeding mechanism, a feed ing slide, means forreciprocating the same,

a Wire gripping lever pivoted to said slide,

a cam pivoted to said slide for operating said gripping lever, anoperating shaft, means actuated by said shaft for oscillating said cam,a guide for the wire, a spring supported holding member working in saidguide, and means operated by said shaft for depressing said holdingmember when the wire .is released by said grippinglever.

l 25. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feed ing s1ide,,.means forreciprocating the same, a wire gripping lever pivoted to said slide, acam pivoted to said slide for operating said gripping lever, anoperating shaft, means actuated by said shaft for oscillating said cam,a guide for the wire, a spring supported holding member working in saidguide, a lever having one end normally in engagement with saidholding-member, and means carried by said shaft for actuating saidlever.

' 26. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, wire gripping meanscarried thereby, a cam pivoted to said feeding slide to operate saidgripping means, a second slide for actuating said cam, a guide for thesec-- ond slide, a lever pivoted to said guide, and means operated bysaid lever for holding the wire when released by said gripping means,

27. In a wire feeding mechanism, a feeding slide, wire gripping meanscarried thereby, a second slide, means operated by the second slide'foractuating said wire gripping means, a guide for the second slide, alever pivoted to said guide, a wire holdin member arranged to interceptthe path 0 movement of one end of said lever, and means for actuatingsaid lever.

28. In a wire feeding mechanism, afeedingslide, means for reciprocatingthe same,

' gripping device, a cam pivoted to said a wire feeding slide foractuating the wire gripping device, a slide for operating said cam, aguide for the cam-operating slide, a lever pivoted to said guide, andmeans operated by said lever for holding the wire when released by saidwire gripping device.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures, in presence of twowitnesses.

Witnesses:

GEORGE H. BIGELOW, RUTH J. MINOR.

